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Myths of the Empyrieos #1
Songbird of the Sorrows
Ask no questions. Obey your orders. Respect your masters. But most of all, love no one.
Spy. Thief. Princess. Songbird.
Princess Aella was ousted from the Palace of Sorrows and gifted to the secret order of spies known as the Aviary at a young age.
After she completes her training and passes the Naming ceremony, Aella is assigned to the prestigious Alpha Flight, led by none other than her former flame. Everything about Raven calls to her. He is brave, loyal and lethal. But love is forbidden within the Aviary.
When Alpha Flight is tasked with infiltrating the eastern kingdom’s royal trials to seek a weapon hidden deep within its court, Aella struggles with the expectations placed on her.
As old sparks reignite and the harsh realities of the realm reveal themselves, the mission begins to unravel, and Aella must decide if she is brave enough to disobey her superiors to do what she believes is right.
Songbird of the Sorrows is the first book in Myths of the Empyrieos, an epic romantic fantasy series that follows a feisty heroine through trials, a perilous heist, court intrigue, kingdom politics, and a journey of self-discovery, true love, and redemption.
Spy. Thief. Princess. Songbird.
Princess Aella was ousted from the Palace of Sorrows and gifted to the secret order of spies known as the Aviary at a young age.
After she completes her training and passes the Naming ceremony, Aella is assigned to the prestigious Alpha Flight, led by none other than her former flame. Everything about Raven calls to her. He is brave, loyal and lethal. But love is forbidden within the Aviary.
When Alpha Flight is tasked with infiltrating the eastern kingdom’s royal trials to seek a weapon hidden deep within its court, Aella struggles with the expectations placed on her.
As old sparks reignite and the harsh realities of the realm reveal themselves, the mission begins to unravel, and Aella must decide if she is brave enough to disobey her superiors to do what she believes is right.
Songbird of the Sorrows is the first book in Myths of the Empyrieos, an epic romantic fantasy series that follows a feisty heroine through trials, a perilous heist, court intrigue, kingdom politics, and a journey of self-discovery, true love, and redemption.
465 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 18, 2024
About the author
Braidee Otto
6 books573 followersA self-proclaimed hopeless romantic, Braidee Otto combines her academic background in Literary Studies with a deep passion for storytelling to create heartfelt, immersive narratives. Songbird of the Sorrows is the first installment in her debut adult romantic fantasy series, Myths of the Empyrieos. She lives in Adelaide, South Australia with her partner, two beloved dogs, and a cat that appeared in her backyard on the winter solstice.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,705 reviews
April 20, 2026
Aella is an assassin, cosplaying her secret-but-real princess identity in a covert operation in some sort of Bachelor-coded deadly marriage trials to win the hand of a prince. Except... slight spanner... the prince is a bit suss. Do we reckon she'll fall for this prince? Guess you'll just have to read it to find out. 🥀
This gets really dark, so check content warnings on the author's website. It did not go the way I thought it was gonna go and I mean that in a good way.
There is NO enemies to lovers trope in sight here, so if you love that trope, soz, however may I interest you with a second chance, forbidden romance with secret identities, deadly marriage trials, elemental magic and heist vibes? Because that’s what’s happening in Songbird of the Sorrows.
So where does the romance fit in, you might be asking? Well, there’s a guy. His name is Raven. He has nice eyes. There does seem to be a bit of yearning. Yet to be completely honest, the forbidden second chance romance storyline felt lukewarm to me, perhaps because the romantic history is implied and has minimal receipts (small flashbacks), therefore the emotional romantic backbone felt undercooked. YMMV with this, we all appreciate the subjective nature of reading and art.
However, what really shined for me was the friendships, it outshone the romance plot. Aella & Nyssa are BFFs and their banter is cute and so is their friendship and I also loved seeing the trust and friendship Aella builds with others, such as Myna and Lady Titaia. We love a found family and we love female friendships and Bechdel tests passing with flying colours! These relationships were the standouts to me.
The writing is pretty lyrical and having read Sarah A. Parker’s When the Moon Hatched recently, I can attest that the writing style had a similar lush, metaphorical quality to it, in a similar way to Parker. However, I found it exercised more restraint, if that means anything to anyone, and that balance really worked for me.
I will say the second half of this book and where it took things, had me 100% invested. I have my theories and am sat for book two to see if said theories are correct. I can see so many several plot direction outcomes and I am so ready for book two to blow my mind, because book one has really laid that foundation.
Also, for people who dislike starting an incomplete series, the second duology book is publishing this year in October 2026, so there’s not a huge wait between books.
Def recommend! Braidee Otto is a fab new Aussie talent with a distinctive creative style to keep an eye on, looking forward to seeing what else is in the works for her.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Random House | The Dial Press for the ARC. This was traditionally published in Feb 2026, so it’s ready to read right now.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The stakes are “win the marriage trials to wed a prince so we can commit a heist or your bestie dies”… also she’s a secret princess method acting as herself. 20% through and eating it up.
This gets really dark, so check content warnings on the author's website. It did not go the way I thought it was gonna go and I mean that in a good way.
There is NO enemies to lovers trope in sight here, so if you love that trope, soz, however may I interest you with a second chance, forbidden romance with secret identities, deadly marriage trials, elemental magic and heist vibes? Because that’s what’s happening in Songbird of the Sorrows.
So where does the romance fit in, you might be asking? Well, there’s a guy. His name is Raven. He has nice eyes. There does seem to be a bit of yearning. Yet to be completely honest, the forbidden second chance romance storyline felt lukewarm to me, perhaps because the romantic history is implied and has minimal receipts (small flashbacks), therefore the emotional romantic backbone felt undercooked. YMMV with this, we all appreciate the subjective nature of reading and art.
However, what really shined for me was the friendships, it outshone the romance plot. Aella & Nyssa are BFFs and their banter is cute and so is their friendship and I also loved seeing the trust and friendship Aella builds with others, such as Myna and Lady Titaia. We love a found family and we love female friendships and Bechdel tests passing with flying colours! These relationships were the standouts to me.
The writing is pretty lyrical and having read Sarah A. Parker’s When the Moon Hatched recently, I can attest that the writing style had a similar lush, metaphorical quality to it, in a similar way to Parker. However, I found it exercised more restraint, if that means anything to anyone, and that balance really worked for me.
I will say the second half of this book and where it took things, had me 100% invested. I have my theories and am sat for book two to see if said theories are correct. I can see so many several plot direction outcomes and I am so ready for book two to blow my mind, because book one has really laid that foundation.
Also, for people who dislike starting an incomplete series, the second duology book is publishing this year in October 2026, so there’s not a huge wait between books.
Def recommend! Braidee Otto is a fab new Aussie talent with a distinctive creative style to keep an eye on, looking forward to seeing what else is in the works for her.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Random House | The Dial Press for the ARC. This was traditionally published in Feb 2026, so it’s ready to read right now.
﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏
The stakes are “win the marriage trials to wed a prince so we can commit a heist or your bestie dies”… also she’s a secret princess method acting as herself. 20% through and eating it up.
June 14, 2024
╭ ✦ •
│ ⊹ 𝟹 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐! ⊹
╰ ✦ •
────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────
wait that's how it ended? will there be a second book??
slightly underwhelming, the whole book felt very rushed
It’s unique in a way and a great debut but I felt like I was reading and not processing the words, or maybe I just didn't connect with the characters since there were so many. There were so many things happening plot-wise that it was all crammed into 378 pages.
⪼I was disappointed when it came to the Trials part of the book. They weren’t as high stakes as they seemed to be, our FMC breezed through them almost without a thought. I feel like they could have gone differently. They were entertaining enough but not as incredibly dangerous as they were meant to be.
IM SORRY BUT IN THE BOOK DESCRIPTION WHERE SAYS "her struggles through high-stakes trials" is literally false advertising 😭😭
⪼I didn't care for Aella and Raven's relationship because there wasn't enough build-up. Although it mentions they 'knew each other' from before, I would have liked to see more of them getting to know each other better. Their 'romance' lacked real tension or chemistry, despite the forbidden love angle.
⪼Every time I read the MMC's name-Raven, I don't know why but I kept thinking of Raven from The 100(<333 I lovvee her sm). But anyway, HE was... strange; gave weird vibes at times, like he was about to betray Aella or something.
Also, as the MMC he lacked character development; we don’t get to know anything about him, he has no backstory, and we don't even get to know his real name(only his given Songbird name). It felt like his only purpose in the book was to serve as Aella's stress relief because those were mainly the only times we got to see him.
His character was very mysterious, and I WISH we had his POV. That would have made him so much more interesting and we would have gotten to know him more.
⪼smut scenes felt awkward between them? Aella kept having to repeat herself 'It's just sex nothing more'... probably why they lacked chemistry because their relationship was more of a Friends-with-benefits
⪼I feel like I constantly had to keep referring to the glossary to even remember what things were:
Eagle: the leader of the Aviary and advisor to the King of the Sorrows
Tycheroi: fortunate ones – the common race in the Empyrieos. They are long-lived and blessed with soul magic by the gods.
Goiteía: an alphabet of marks used to tap into soul magic. The more one uses goiteía, the shorter their lifespan.
Goiteían: a person who sells the service of mark carving, or is in servitude to carve goiteía for another.
these are just a few, there were so many more words/names/Kingdoms/pronunciations in the glossary, and honestly, at one point I just stopped going back and forth accepting that I probably won't remember what the heck was being talked about.
⪼Xan, is an interesting character that I want to know more about, but his appearance felt rushed in a way.
THE CLIFFHANGER WAS SHOCKING AND SLIGHTLY CONFUSING. If there is a second book, I'll probably read it, because WHAT THE HECK XAN???!!
Overall, I'm not going to say I completely disliked this, but it was very underwhelming, and I feel like I need to read it again.
────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────
⊹ 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 ⊹
❥Spies
❥assassins & royals
❥a perilous heist
❥'high stakes' trials
❥forbidden romance
❥forced proximity
❥court intrigue
❥kingdom politics
❥Greek mythology
Thank you for the ARC, Braidee!
_________________________________
Blog ಇ StoryGraph ಇ Instagram ಇ Twitter ಇ Facebook
│ ⊹ 𝟹 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚐! ⊹
╰ ✦ •
«𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓎 𝒷𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓇𝓅𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉, 𝒷𝓊𝓉 𝐼 𝒶𝓂 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶 𝓈𝑜𝓃𝑔𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹. 𝐼’𝓂 𝒶 𝒷𝒾𝓇𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓎.»
────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────
wait that's how it ended? will there be a second book??
slightly underwhelming, the whole book felt very rushed
It’s unique in a way and a great debut but I felt like I was reading and not processing the words, or maybe I just didn't connect with the characters since there were so many. There were so many things happening plot-wise that it was all crammed into 378 pages.
⪼I was disappointed when it came to the Trials part of the book. They weren’t as high stakes as they seemed to be, our FMC breezed through them almost without a thought. I feel like they could have gone differently. They were entertaining enough but not as incredibly dangerous as they were meant to be.
IM SORRY BUT IN THE BOOK DESCRIPTION WHERE SAYS "her struggles through high-stakes trials" is literally false advertising 😭😭
⪼I didn't care for Aella and Raven's relationship because there wasn't enough build-up. Although it mentions they 'knew each other' from before, I would have liked to see more of them getting to know each other better. Their 'romance' lacked real tension or chemistry, despite the forbidden love angle.
⪼Every time I read the MMC's name-Raven, I don't know why but I kept thinking of Raven from The 100(<333 I lovvee her sm). But anyway, HE was... strange; gave weird vibes at times, like he was about to betray Aella or something.
Also, as the MMC he lacked character development; we don’t get to know anything about him, he has no backstory, and we don't even get to know his real name(only his given Songbird name). It felt like his only purpose in the book was to serve as Aella's stress relief because those were mainly the only times we got to see him.
His character was very mysterious, and I WISH we had his POV. That would have made him so much more interesting and we would have gotten to know him more.
⪼smut scenes felt awkward between them? Aella kept having to repeat herself 'It's just sex nothing more'... probably why they lacked chemistry because their relationship was more of a Friends-with-benefits
⪼I feel like I constantly had to keep referring to the glossary to even remember what things were:
Eagle: the leader of the Aviary and advisor to the King of the Sorrows
Tycheroi: fortunate ones – the common race in the Empyrieos. They are long-lived and blessed with soul magic by the gods.
Goiteía: an alphabet of marks used to tap into soul magic. The more one uses goiteía, the shorter their lifespan.
Goiteían: a person who sells the service of mark carving, or is in servitude to carve goiteía for another.
these are just a few, there were so many more words/names/Kingdoms/pronunciations in the glossary, and honestly, at one point I just stopped going back and forth accepting that I probably won't remember what the heck was being talked about.
⪼Xan, is an interesting character that I want to know more about, but his appearance felt rushed in a way.
THE CLIFFHANGER WAS SHOCKING AND SLIGHTLY CONFUSING. If there is a second book, I'll probably read it, because WHAT THE HECK XAN???!!
Overall, I'm not going to say I completely disliked this, but it was very underwhelming, and I feel like I need to read it again.
────── ✧ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ♡ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ✧ ──────
⊹ 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽 ⊹
❥Spies
❥assassins & royals
❥a perilous heist
❥'high stakes' trials
❥forbidden romance
❥forced proximity
❥court intrigue
❥kingdom politics
❥Greek mythology
Thank you for the ARC, Braidee!
_________________________________
Blog ಇ StoryGraph ಇ Instagram ಇ Twitter ಇ Facebook
April 20, 2024
No notes.
Utter perfection.
Y’all actually aren’t ready to read this book 😂
Utter perfection.
Y’all actually aren’t ready to read this book 😂
April 20, 2024
I had the absolute pleasure to read this before almost everyone else. And honestly, get ready for this book to be the next big hit.
Braidee’s writing is lyrical, her prose whimsical, the plot thick, and the world building sharp.
You’re going to be screaming at your book because Aella is an absolute menace, but then crying as your heart breaks for her.
Aella is a character I think will resonate with a lot of people. She’s been told who and what to be her whole life and makes a point to rebel against it. But it’s when she realises who she truly is and decides for herself what she wants, that she shines… it just takes some pain to get there.
I can’t wait for you to meet her 🥹
Braidee, my love, congratulations.
Braidee’s writing is lyrical, her prose whimsical, the plot thick, and the world building sharp.
You’re going to be screaming at your book because Aella is an absolute menace, but then crying as your heart breaks for her.
Aella is a character I think will resonate with a lot of people. She’s been told who and what to be her whole life and makes a point to rebel against it. But it’s when she realises who she truly is and decides for herself what she wants, that she shines… it just takes some pain to get there.
I can’t wait for you to meet her 🥹
Braidee, my love, congratulations.
May 11, 2024
3.5 STARS!
I had the pleasure of being an ARC reader for Songbird of the Sorrows and found it an enjoyable read! The world building was well written and I could imagine myself walking the streets of the Sorrows and Eretia - it was just a little too long for my liking but that’s ok!
I think this book paves the way for what could be an amazing series, where the majority of the world building needed to take place in the first instance so the rest of the story can flow as needed. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next! Especially with the ending!!! I need to know what happened 😂
3.5 stars from me on this one - a solid read with a sprinkle of spice, and I can’t wait to see how the story and world progresses! The book releases on the 18th June for anyone who would like to read ☺️🩷
I had the pleasure of being an ARC reader for Songbird of the Sorrows and found it an enjoyable read! The world building was well written and I could imagine myself walking the streets of the Sorrows and Eretia - it was just a little too long for my liking but that’s ok!
I think this book paves the way for what could be an amazing series, where the majority of the world building needed to take place in the first instance so the rest of the story can flow as needed. I’m definitely looking forward to reading the next! Especially with the ending!!! I need to know what happened 😂
3.5 stars from me on this one - a solid read with a sprinkle of spice, and I can’t wait to see how the story and world progresses! The book releases on the 18th June for anyone who would like to read ☺️🩷
May 19, 2024
“I am not just a songbird. I’m a bird of prey”
Aella, denied princess turned spy, is tasked with her first mission that involves seducing an unhinged prince & 3 high stake trials ⚔️🦁
“He may think he’s winning, but the reality is that I’m playing an entirely different game”
Add in forbidden second chance love with all the tension🌶️ PLUS a secret weapon that could bring the kingdoms crumbling down 🔥 You will be hooked within the first chapter 🙌🏼
I’m counting down for book 2 after the huge cliffhanger 🤯 Thank you Braidee for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review , happy launch day!! 🎉
Aella, denied princess turned spy, is tasked with her first mission that involves seducing an unhinged prince & 3 high stake trials ⚔️🦁
“He may think he’s winning, but the reality is that I’m playing an entirely different game”
Add in forbidden second chance love with all the tension🌶️ PLUS a secret weapon that could bring the kingdoms crumbling down 🔥 You will be hooked within the first chapter 🙌🏼
I’m counting down for book 2 after the huge cliffhanger 🤯 Thank you Braidee for an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review , happy launch day!! 🎉
January 30, 2026
✨ Rating: 4⭐️
🫧 Vibes: spy meets royalty
🎶 Song: easier than lying - halsey
📖 Favourite Quote: "I think everyone is angry. Anger is often disappointed hope."
📚 Would I recommend? sure why not!
💬 tldr thoughts: a book with some pacing issues but overall a decent read!
In the package:
📦 secret identity
📦 spy/princess
📦 trials
📦 forbidden romance
Plot: Aella is an outcast princess turned spy who is sent to the royal court to face some trials and become the prince's new bride. She must infiltrate the kingdom with her team to steal a powerful weapon, but the secrets she uncovers force her to decide whether to follow orders or defy them.
Thoughts: This book was more telling than showing but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This isn't a 5 star simply because the pacing was the biggest issue with this book. Things that were unimportant were overly explained and then moments where I was hoping we would deeply dive into were just glossed over or quickly explored. However, the last 70% of this book was insanity. So much so, I stayed up late just to finish it. Easily the best part of the book.
I really wanted to know more about Aella and Raven's relationship and her time before the Aviary. Their relationship felt very lust driven because we didn't get much info about their past. Romance is essentially forbidden but these two characters have a past. This book isn't very romance driven but I'm totally okay with that. The best relationship in this book is actually between Aella and her bestie, Nyssa. They would do anything for each other. Aella is a great FMC, she's strong, resilient and smart. You can't help to root for her, especially in the end. My gosh, my heart was RACING and breaking for her. I have some serious high hopes for the next book because that cliffhanger was diabolical. I'm hoping we focus a little more on the magic system in book 2 because it's very intriguing.
Thank you The Dial Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
✩⁺₊✩☽⋆ follow me on tiktok and instagram⋆☾✩⁺₊✩
🫧 Vibes: spy meets royalty
🎶 Song: easier than lying - halsey
📖 Favourite Quote: "I think everyone is angry. Anger is often disappointed hope."
📚 Would I recommend? sure why not!
💬 tldr thoughts: a book with some pacing issues but overall a decent read!
In the package:
📦 secret identity
📦 spy/princess
📦 trials
📦 forbidden romance
Plot: Aella is an outcast princess turned spy who is sent to the royal court to face some trials and become the prince's new bride. She must infiltrate the kingdom with her team to steal a powerful weapon, but the secrets she uncovers force her to decide whether to follow orders or defy them.
Thoughts: This book was more telling than showing but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This isn't a 5 star simply because the pacing was the biggest issue with this book. Things that were unimportant were overly explained and then moments where I was hoping we would deeply dive into were just glossed over or quickly explored. However, the last 70% of this book was insanity. So much so, I stayed up late just to finish it. Easily the best part of the book.
I really wanted to know more about Aella and Raven's relationship and her time before the Aviary. Their relationship felt very lust driven because we didn't get much info about their past. Romance is essentially forbidden but these two characters have a past. This book isn't very romance driven but I'm totally okay with that. The best relationship in this book is actually between Aella and her bestie, Nyssa. They would do anything for each other. Aella is a great FMC, she's strong, resilient and smart. You can't help to root for her, especially in the end. My gosh, my heart was RACING and breaking for her. I have some serious high hopes for the next book because that cliffhanger was diabolical. I'm hoping we focus a little more on the magic system in book 2 because it's very intriguing.
Thank you The Dial Press and NetGalley for the eARC!
✩⁺₊✩☽⋆ follow me on tiktok and instagram⋆☾✩⁺₊✩
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Oh this was a nice one!!
What I've loved
1 This is an AWESOMELY WRITTEN debut book!
2 The romance wasn’t at all center focus, which was refreshing. The FMC owes the love interest nothing at all for her achievements or talents, she’s strong and she’s her own woman regardless.
3 The magic system is original enough, and I’m quite curious to see where it all is going, and how her forbidden power plays into the story.
4The MMC may not be very interesting, but the mystery around the villain power and relations sure is, and I’m curious to read more about that
(I don’t mean he’s in anyway MMC material, I hope in someone else entirely being introduced.)
What I didn't love
1The romance is the absolute weakest part of the story. Raven is the typical shadow daddy, but there is no real build up, and if you cut out the romance altogether nothing would change in the book. That’s kind of a good thing in its own way.
2 For the same reason, the spice did nothing for me and felt a bit awkward, cause I felt nothing for them as a couple. It could also be that a new love interest will be introduced next and the authors didn’t want us to be too attached to Raven (I hope so).
3 While it didn’t feel to drag at all, there were some overly described details, and I wish we could have had more depth on the character backstories and motivations instead. It doesn’t sound like a great life to pick. We know Aella didn’t choose, but what motivated the others?
Conclusions
Overall, this was an enjoyable read for me, made even better if I think this is a debut book and the author has room to grow.
Many of my qualms with the first book could be well addressed and fixed in the second instalment, if they haven’t already been planned for this kind of arc all along.
I hope we get more focus on the magic system going forward, as that could help make it more memorable than it currently is.
Pre-read
9 Dec 25: time to dive in!! I've seen that so many of you already have, but I'm going in blind! 👀💪🏻
17 Oct 25: I'm thrilled to have been pre-approved for this ARC by Penguin Random House! <3
What I've loved
1 This is an AWESOMELY WRITTEN debut book!
2 The romance wasn’t at all center focus, which was refreshing. The FMC owes the love interest nothing at all for her achievements or talents, she’s strong and she’s her own woman regardless.
3 The magic system is original enough, and I’m quite curious to see where it all is going, and how her forbidden power plays into the story.
4The MMC may not be very interesting, but the mystery around the villain power and relations sure is, and I’m curious to read more about that
(I don’t mean he’s in anyway MMC material, I hope in someone else entirely being introduced.)
What I didn't love
1The romance is the absolute weakest part of the story. Raven is the typical shadow daddy, but there is no real build up, and if you cut out the romance altogether nothing would change in the book. That’s kind of a good thing in its own way.
2 For the same reason, the spice did nothing for me and felt a bit awkward, cause I felt nothing for them as a couple. It could also be that a new love interest will be introduced next and the authors didn’t want us to be too attached to Raven (I hope so).
3 While it didn’t feel to drag at all, there were some overly described details, and I wish we could have had more depth on the character backstories and motivations instead. It doesn’t sound like a great life to pick. We know Aella didn’t choose, but what motivated the others?
Conclusions
Overall, this was an enjoyable read for me, made even better if I think this is a debut book and the author has room to grow.
Many of my qualms with the first book could be well addressed and fixed in the second instalment, if they haven’t already been planned for this kind of arc all along.
I hope we get more focus on the magic system going forward, as that could help make it more memorable than it currently is.
Pre-read
9 Dec 25: time to dive in!! I've seen that so many of you already have, but I'm going in blind! 👀💪🏻
17 Oct 25: I'm thrilled to have been pre-approved for this ARC by Penguin Random House! <3
July 11, 2024
3 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
“My fear was so great I don’t know if I’m capable of dreaming anymore. Instead of adventure and dreams, I have poison in my blood and nightmares in my soul.”
Songbird of the Sorrows is a fantasy romance debut featuring a forbidden romance between former sweethearts, court drama and politics, a group of spies-under-disguise on a mission.
The author definitely put in a lot of work when it comes to the world-building which is loosely inspired by Greek Mythology.
Maybe I had different expectations a bit, however this book seems to set up what is a promising series and fans of the fantasy romance genre in general are likely to enjoy it.
I think I'll address only two points as to why I couldn't enjoy it more:
1. The romance was rushed. I was excited and intrigued by the forbidden romance aspect especially as the two characters were former sweethearts. I think it would've helped if the tension prolonged between them. It felt they quickly mingled with each other and it lost that tension and excitement of it's forbidden nature.
2. I think the story had a good pacing but the action or the stakes did not keep me on the edge of my seat except for one scene that had me nervous.
The romance and the action are key elements to enjoying a fantasy romance for me so maybe that explains my 3-star rating. The rating does not mean the book is bad or not worth reading, not at all! I can see why many readers loved it but I just expected some storylines to play out differently.
It's a debut book and not easy at all to write a whole book and create an imaginary world, so congrats to the author on publishing her first book and gifting the community a new fun read to devour.
What to expect?
— Romantic Fantasy
— Forbidden Romance
— Forced Proximity
— Trials and Heists
— Greek Mythology
— Kingdom Politics
— Court Intrigue
— Spies, Assassins and Royals
Content warning: the book features Abandonment, Abduction of an adult (implied), Battle, Blood and gore, Death and violence, Emotional abuse/manipulation, Explicit sex/sexual activities, Graphic language, Hallucinations, Mental health/PTSD, Non-consensual sex/sexual assault (non-graphic), Poisoning, Stillbirth (mentioned on page), Substance abuse, Torture.
“My fear was so great I don’t know if I’m capable of dreaming anymore. Instead of adventure and dreams, I have poison in my blood and nightmares in my soul.”
Songbird of the Sorrows is a fantasy romance debut featuring a forbidden romance between former sweethearts, court drama and politics, a group of spies-under-disguise on a mission.
The author definitely put in a lot of work when it comes to the world-building which is loosely inspired by Greek Mythology.
Maybe I had different expectations a bit, however this book seems to set up what is a promising series and fans of the fantasy romance genre in general are likely to enjoy it.
I think I'll address only two points as to why I couldn't enjoy it more:
1. The romance was rushed. I was excited and intrigued by the forbidden romance aspect especially as the two characters were former sweethearts. I think it would've helped if the tension prolonged between them. It felt they quickly mingled with each other and it lost that tension and excitement of it's forbidden nature.
2. I think the story had a good pacing but the action or the stakes did not keep me on the edge of my seat except for one scene that had me nervous.
The romance and the action are key elements to enjoying a fantasy romance for me so maybe that explains my 3-star rating. The rating does not mean the book is bad or not worth reading, not at all! I can see why many readers loved it but I just expected some storylines to play out differently.
It's a debut book and not easy at all to write a whole book and create an imaginary world, so congrats to the author on publishing her first book and gifting the community a new fun read to devour.
What to expect?
— Romantic Fantasy
— Forbidden Romance
— Forced Proximity
— Trials and Heists
— Greek Mythology
— Kingdom Politics
— Court Intrigue
— Spies, Assassins and Royals
Content warning: the book features Abandonment, Abduction of an adult (implied), Battle, Blood and gore, Death and violence, Emotional abuse/manipulation, Explicit sex/sexual activities, Graphic language, Hallucinations, Mental health/PTSD, Non-consensual sex/sexual assault (non-graphic), Poisoning, Stillbirth (mentioned on page), Substance abuse, Torture.
March 22, 2026
Have you ever thought a book was just alright but desperately want to read book two? That’s where I’m at right now.
I enjoyed the world building and overall premise, but nothing really gripped me until about 85% through. I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the characters, and I especially did not feel connected to the romantic sub plot. However, the last 15% really switched things up and took this story in a direction I didn’t anticipate. So even though this book didn’t hit all the marks for me, I really want to read book two… like right now. Please.
Thank you NetGalley and The Dial Press for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!
I enjoyed the world building and overall premise, but nothing really gripped me until about 85% through. I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the characters, and I especially did not feel connected to the romantic sub plot. However, the last 15% really switched things up and took this story in a direction I didn’t anticipate. So even though this book didn’t hit all the marks for me, I really want to read book two… like right now. Please.
Thank you NetGalley and The Dial Press for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review!
May 25, 2026
this took me by complete surprise and i LOVED it.
this story focuses far more on our female main character and her story than it does the romance and i was here for it.
the ending has left me with soooo many questions and so many theories and i’m thinking okay well what’s our little bird got herself into now?! i think book two is gonna be such a ride and i can’t wait to see what we have in store for us. SAT for this series 😍
this story focuses far more on our female main character and her story than it does the romance and i was here for it.
the ending has left me with soooo many questions and so many theories and i’m thinking okay well what’s our little bird got herself into now?! i think book two is gonna be such a ride and i can’t wait to see what we have in store for us. SAT for this series 😍
May 20, 2024
Overall I enjoyed the book. The ending REALLY hooked me in with the cliffhanger. This is book 1 so there is a lot of building and set up to what I hope is going to be a great series! I really like Aella as a character, she has so much room to grow and develop.
I really like the idea of this book. The Aviary of spies. It’s kind of cool everyone gets their own bird code name. Going on secret missions and doing dangerous tasks.
I thought Aella aka Starling was great in her role. She is pretending to not be who she was born to be only to be put on a mission to pretend to be who she was born as. It’s great! Our male love interest Raven didn’t really show up much except to be a spicy love interest. So I feel like I don’t really know much about him at all.
The trials that were had (not going to spoil what or why) were made out to be dangerous, yet they didn’t quite hit the mark, our FMC kind of breezed right through them. Which made it feel a bit lackluster.
The overall pacing for the first 70% was really slow. The last 30% definitely picked up but it made everything seem really cut short.
As always make sure you read the trigger warnings, there are some graphic depictions.
I really like the idea of this book. The Aviary of spies. It’s kind of cool everyone gets their own bird code name. Going on secret missions and doing dangerous tasks.
I thought Aella aka Starling was great in her role. She is pretending to not be who she was born to be only to be put on a mission to pretend to be who she was born as. It’s great! Our male love interest Raven didn’t really show up much except to be a spicy love interest. So I feel like I don’t really know much about him at all.
The trials that were had (not going to spoil what or why) were made out to be dangerous, yet they didn’t quite hit the mark, our FMC kind of breezed right through them. Which made it feel a bit lackluster.
The overall pacing for the first 70% was really slow. The last 30% definitely picked up but it made everything seem really cut short.
As always make sure you read the trigger warnings, there are some graphic depictions.
January 11, 2026
(3.5⭐)
A solid debut!! The ending has got me pretty excited for book 2, I will always eat up this trope if that's where this is headed (which is 99% likely tbh).
I wasn't really feeling too invested with the plot honestly, though the last 75% felt really engaging. I also couldn't really connect to any of the characters, but I did like the female friendships in this book! Probably my favourite part. Though they didn't appear enough for me to really love them, I did like Titaia, Nyssa, and Myna.
With the FMC, Aella, she was alright. I don't really have much of an opinion on her, though that one scene near the end made me feel so bad for her😭 I wanted to give her a hug!! And then the MMC, Raven... oh if he wasn't so BORING. Had there been flashback chapters (as they've been for friends for nearly 10 years and this had the second chance trope in marketing), I could've felt more for the romance but I didn't. I nearly considered DNF-ing at 45% because I didn't care too much for anything... but then I heard that it was suspected that he wasn't the real MMC and I have to say I love the author for this!! I see now it was intentional so if anyone isn't feel the romance, just wait until you get to around the end!!
I think I'll read the next book because I'm definitely curious about that ending.
Thank you Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
A solid debut!! The ending has got me pretty excited for book 2, I will always eat up this trope if that's where this is headed (which is 99% likely tbh).
I wasn't really feeling too invested with the plot honestly, though the last 75% felt really engaging. I also couldn't really connect to any of the characters, but I did like the female friendships in this book! Probably my favourite part. Though they didn't appear enough for me to really love them, I did like Titaia, Nyssa, and Myna.
With the FMC, Aella, she was alright. I don't really have much of an opinion on her, though that one scene near the end made me feel so bad for her😭 I wanted to give her a hug!! And then the MMC, Raven... oh if he wasn't so BORING. Had there been flashback chapters (as they've been for friends for nearly 10 years and this had the second chance trope in marketing), I could've felt more for the romance but I didn't. I nearly considered DNF-ing at 45% because I didn't care too much for anything... but then I heard that it was suspected that he wasn't the real MMC and I have to say I love the author for this!! I see now it was intentional so if anyone isn't feel the romance, just wait until you get to around the end!!
I think I'll read the next book because I'm definitely curious about that ending.
Thank you Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
August 13, 2026
4⭐️ “Impressive, immersive magic and world-building paired with expert prose… ending with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger. An amazing author debut.”
Thank you Netgalley and Random House | The Dial Press for the ARC.
I absolutely LOVED this book, and in my opinion, it is totally underhyped. The funny thing is, for a while, I wasn’t even sure I was going to love it.
Then came this huge shift in atmosphere, followed by THAT ending, and suddenly the book completely won me over. And I LOVE when a book manages to surprise me like that—when I think I know where the story is taking me, only to realize I really, really don’t.
What amazed me the most was the writing style.
The way the avian vocabulary is intertwined with the entire spy system is pure genius. It’s clever, original, and so intelligently done.
The prose is beautiful, immersive, and incredibly atmospheric.
And the way the magic, the world, and the overall lore are woven together? Mind-blowing. It’s so gripping. There are layers upon layers that slowly come together, and there is so much potential here. By the end, I was completely invested in where this story is going.
I almost feel like the real story only truly starts at the end of this book.
I initially thought the romance was totally unnecessary because I just couldn’t see the appeal or even the point of the MMC. I kept wondering, why am I supposed to care about this? But then…the ending happened. And COME ON. No spoilers, but now I NEED to know. 😭 Everything before it feels like it was carefully setting the board, placing every piece exactly where it needed to be while almost deliberately distracting you from the bigger picture and then the ending finally reveals the game we’re actually about to play.
So why not 5 stars?
Because while the overall writing feels incredibly sophisticated and mature, there are a few specific elements that, for me, simply don’t reach that same level.
My first issue was with the trials. I loved the idea of them, but their execution felt a little out of place compared with the rest of the book. For scenes that should have had me holding my breath and fearing what would happen next, I never really felt that tension or sense of danger. And honestly, the third trial was just boring to me. Considering how strong and atmospheric the writing was everywhere else, I wanted those moments to hit SO much harder.
My second issue was Aella herself or, more specifically, the inconsistency in her personality. She is a badass. She is a spy. She has been trained to observe everything, see beyond what others see, and survive in a brutal world. She has endured an incredible amount of physical pain and torture herself. So I struggled with how strongly she reacted almost every single time she encountered blood, torture, violence, or cruelty.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually LIKE that she develops a conscience and questions what is happening around her. I don’t need or want her to be emotionless. But sometimes, her reactions simply didn’t match the background, experience, and training we’d been given for her.
And my third issue was the friendship development. This gave me a similar feeling to the trials. The overall storytelling and prose are so strong and sophisticated, but some of the friendship moments felt strangely childish and immature in comparison. The development just didn’t feel as natural or convincing as the rest of the story, and for me, it was a bit of a miss.
But despite those issues, this is a debut that seriously impressed me. The writing, the atmosphere, the magic system, the world-building, and the way that ending completely shifted my perception of the story left me wanting so much more. In conclusion: I need the next book. Immediately. 🖤
Thank you Netgalley and Random House | The Dial Press for the ARC.
I absolutely LOVED this book, and in my opinion, it is totally underhyped. The funny thing is, for a while, I wasn’t even sure I was going to love it.
Then came this huge shift in atmosphere, followed by THAT ending, and suddenly the book completely won me over. And I LOVE when a book manages to surprise me like that—when I think I know where the story is taking me, only to realize I really, really don’t.
What amazed me the most was the writing style.
The way the avian vocabulary is intertwined with the entire spy system is pure genius. It’s clever, original, and so intelligently done.
The prose is beautiful, immersive, and incredibly atmospheric.
And the way the magic, the world, and the overall lore are woven together? Mind-blowing. It’s so gripping. There are layers upon layers that slowly come together, and there is so much potential here. By the end, I was completely invested in where this story is going.
I almost feel like the real story only truly starts at the end of this book.
I initially thought the romance was totally unnecessary because I just couldn’t see the appeal or even the point of the MMC. I kept wondering, why am I supposed to care about this? But then…the ending happened. And COME ON. No spoilers, but now I NEED to know. 😭 Everything before it feels like it was carefully setting the board, placing every piece exactly where it needed to be while almost deliberately distracting you from the bigger picture and then the ending finally reveals the game we’re actually about to play.
So why not 5 stars?
Because while the overall writing feels incredibly sophisticated and mature, there are a few specific elements that, for me, simply don’t reach that same level.
My first issue was with the trials. I loved the idea of them, but their execution felt a little out of place compared with the rest of the book. For scenes that should have had me holding my breath and fearing what would happen next, I never really felt that tension or sense of danger. And honestly, the third trial was just boring to me. Considering how strong and atmospheric the writing was everywhere else, I wanted those moments to hit SO much harder.
My second issue was Aella herself or, more specifically, the inconsistency in her personality. She is a badass. She is a spy. She has been trained to observe everything, see beyond what others see, and survive in a brutal world. She has endured an incredible amount of physical pain and torture herself. So I struggled with how strongly she reacted almost every single time she encountered blood, torture, violence, or cruelty.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually LIKE that she develops a conscience and questions what is happening around her. I don’t need or want her to be emotionless. But sometimes, her reactions simply didn’t match the background, experience, and training we’d been given for her.
And my third issue was the friendship development. This gave me a similar feeling to the trials. The overall storytelling and prose are so strong and sophisticated, but some of the friendship moments felt strangely childish and immature in comparison. The development just didn’t feel as natural or convincing as the rest of the story, and for me, it was a bit of a miss.
But despite those issues, this is a debut that seriously impressed me. The writing, the atmosphere, the magic system, the world-building, and the way that ending completely shifted my perception of the story left me wanting so much more. In conclusion: I need the next book. Immediately. 🖤
May 14, 2024
I loved this book, but need a minute to process it before reviewing. 😅
It took a few days, but I think I've finally recovered from reading Songbird of the Sorrows enough to articulate my thoughts and feelings. Here's my spoiler free review.
Including a map is always a great thing for me in fantasy books. And Braidee went so far as to include a pronunciation guide in the beginning, which I found super helpful and referred back to many times.
World building was great! I felt like I was there with the FMC, fully experiencing the world the author created. Lots of colorful details pulling in all of your senses (but not so many details that it was overwhelming and/or convoluted).
Prose was excellent. Flowed beautifully enough that I'm surprised that this is her debut novel. At times her writing feels poetic, or even lyrical. You know how some authors throw in huge, super uncommon words, but it feels contrived (I detest when they do this)? Braidee Otto does *not* do that. There are some bigger, less common words, but none that I would expect most readers w¹ouldn't know the meaning of. Use of metaphors was excellent, not too much and not too little.
Plot was great. A network of spies trained by their government (songbirds) from a young age. Most (maybe all, I can't recall right off) of those spies being unwanted, abandoned, or orphaned kids. All too often, yes even in 2024, kids that fit that category are labeled as "damaged" and/or "broken," but Braidee Otto did the opposite. I was an unwanted child who grew up in foster care, so Braidee doing this - it's been days and I still haven't been able to formulate the proper words.
Pacing was good. The first 20% felt a bit slow to me, but I'm 99.9% sure that's on me for starting an ebook when I have a lot of IRL stuff going on lol. I kept picking it up to only be able to read a page, or at times, only a sentence. Which meant I didn't have time to actually get into it. That's on me, but with a cover and blurb like that, who can really blame me for being unable to wait? 😅
Since I'm pretty confident the pacing for the first 20% is my own fault, I'm not taking away points for that. Past that point, the story goes quickly with small pockets to take a breath in spaced well. The author sets the scene, and then it's like a freight train barreling down the tracks.
I love that the FMC is strong (mentally and physically) and doesn't just wait around for a man to save her, or even help her. She gets shit done.
The mental health rep was great! Especially one character who deals with what sounds like PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks. As someone who is diagnosed with all 3, I felt the rep was well done.
If you're looking for your next queer normative read - check this book out!
I love that Braidee didn't use foods to describe the various skin tones, and it felt inclusive of the full ethnicity gamut.
I would say it leaned a bit more on plot development than character. This is neither a pro nor a con, just my opinion.
The characters were well developed, dimensional, and I felt attached to them and what happened to them.
The banter was excellent, it felt natural. I chuckled out loud a few times. The friendship between the FMC and her bestie was perfection. And then, I cried at one point. I didn't think I was a crier, but maybe I'm becoming one.
There was some spice, 2-3 detailed scenes that were well done in my opinion. 1, maybe 2, scenes that were more alluding to spice than actual scenes. I didn't feel the spice was gratuitous, just well done and sprinkled in. The spice was detailed enough that I wouldn't recommend this book for a kid in middle school lol. I would say 18+ probably.
I would have liked to have more info on the trials the FMC has to go through in when she's on her mission. More details. I also feel like up until the end of her mission, the trials weren't difficult for her (but maybe that was intentional). I'm not exactly sure what I would've liked, or preferred, but I felt like the trials during her mission were glazed over a bit more than I would have liked.
The relationship between the FMC and the MMC - my feelings may be nearly as confused as theirs are towards one another lol. Part of me loves it and wishes them a happy, long life together. Another part feels the MMC was up to something shady, like in book 2 he's going to do something that the FMC and myself will really not like.
But hopefully then he'll have his redemption arc. OR the FMC moves on from him.
If you enjoy fantasy, romantacy and/or mythology, you would probably like this.
That ending. Ms. Otto, we need to talk. I both hate you and love you. I'm still not sure I'm OK, and it's been 3 days since I finished this book. I'm actually shocked I didn't damage the screen on my kindle with how aggressively I was swiping to get to the next chapter. Including that beautiful character art, especially where the author did, was perfect, but also kind of mean (in the best way possible). I need the next book yesterday, or sooner if possible. Please and thank you.
@braideeottobooks has some great pre-order incentives, as well as gorgeous character art, and more info on potential triggers (if that's a concern for you). Songbird of the Sorrows releases June 18, 2024.
While I am a member of Braidee's street team and was gifted an ebook of this ARC, this is my honest review.
It took a few days, but I think I've finally recovered from reading Songbird of the Sorrows enough to articulate my thoughts and feelings. Here's my spoiler free review.
Including a map is always a great thing for me in fantasy books. And Braidee went so far as to include a pronunciation guide in the beginning, which I found super helpful and referred back to many times.
World building was great! I felt like I was there with the FMC, fully experiencing the world the author created. Lots of colorful details pulling in all of your senses (but not so many details that it was overwhelming and/or convoluted).
Prose was excellent. Flowed beautifully enough that I'm surprised that this is her debut novel. At times her writing feels poetic, or even lyrical. You know how some authors throw in huge, super uncommon words, but it feels contrived (I detest when they do this)? Braidee Otto does *not* do that. There are some bigger, less common words, but none that I would expect most readers w¹ouldn't know the meaning of. Use of metaphors was excellent, not too much and not too little.
Plot was great. A network of spies trained by their government (songbirds) from a young age. Most (maybe all, I can't recall right off) of those spies being unwanted, abandoned, or orphaned kids. All too often, yes even in 2024, kids that fit that category are labeled as "damaged" and/or "broken," but Braidee Otto did the opposite. I was an unwanted child who grew up in foster care, so Braidee doing this - it's been days and I still haven't been able to formulate the proper words.
Pacing was good. The first 20% felt a bit slow to me, but I'm 99.9% sure that's on me for starting an ebook when I have a lot of IRL stuff going on lol. I kept picking it up to only be able to read a page, or at times, only a sentence. Which meant I didn't have time to actually get into it. That's on me, but with a cover and blurb like that, who can really blame me for being unable to wait? 😅
Since I'm pretty confident the pacing for the first 20% is my own fault, I'm not taking away points for that. Past that point, the story goes quickly with small pockets to take a breath in spaced well. The author sets the scene, and then it's like a freight train barreling down the tracks.
I love that the FMC is strong (mentally and physically) and doesn't just wait around for a man to save her, or even help her. She gets shit done.
The mental health rep was great! Especially one character who deals with what sounds like PTSD, anxiety, and panic attacks. As someone who is diagnosed with all 3, I felt the rep was well done.
If you're looking for your next queer normative read - check this book out!
I love that Braidee didn't use foods to describe the various skin tones, and it felt inclusive of the full ethnicity gamut.
I would say it leaned a bit more on plot development than character. This is neither a pro nor a con, just my opinion.
The characters were well developed, dimensional, and I felt attached to them and what happened to them.
The banter was excellent, it felt natural. I chuckled out loud a few times. The friendship between the FMC and her bestie was perfection. And then, I cried at one point. I didn't think I was a crier, but maybe I'm becoming one.
There was some spice, 2-3 detailed scenes that were well done in my opinion. 1, maybe 2, scenes that were more alluding to spice than actual scenes. I didn't feel the spice was gratuitous, just well done and sprinkled in. The spice was detailed enough that I wouldn't recommend this book for a kid in middle school lol. I would say 18+ probably.
I would have liked to have more info on the trials the FMC has to go through in when she's on her mission. More details. I also feel like up until the end of her mission, the trials weren't difficult for her (but maybe that was intentional). I'm not exactly sure what I would've liked, or preferred, but I felt like the trials during her mission were glazed over a bit more than I would have liked.
The relationship between the FMC and the MMC - my feelings may be nearly as confused as theirs are towards one another lol. Part of me loves it and wishes them a happy, long life together. Another part feels the MMC was up to something shady, like in book 2 he's going to do something that the FMC and myself will really not like.
But hopefully then he'll have his redemption arc. OR the FMC moves on from him.
If you enjoy fantasy, romantacy and/or mythology, you would probably like this.
That ending. Ms. Otto, we need to talk. I both hate you and love you. I'm still not sure I'm OK, and it's been 3 days since I finished this book. I'm actually shocked I didn't damage the screen on my kindle with how aggressively I was swiping to get to the next chapter. Including that beautiful character art, especially where the author did, was perfect, but also kind of mean (in the best way possible). I need the next book yesterday, or sooner if possible. Please and thank you.
@braideeottobooks has some great pre-order incentives, as well as gorgeous character art, and more info on potential triggers (if that's a concern for you). Songbird of the Sorrows releases June 18, 2024.
While I am a member of Braidee's street team and was gifted an ebook of this ARC, this is my honest review.
April 12, 2025
When I was asked to blurb Songbird of the Sorrows, I did not know how lucky I was?! Braidee's writing is gorgeous, her world building impeccable, and I swear there was never a dull moment in this book.
I love love loved the combo of heist & trials because it meant that tensions were *always* high. It also meant this book was extremely hard to put down.
Okay okay, here's the official blurb:
Songbird of the Sorrows is an addictive new romantic fantasy that combines beautiful world building, a thrilling combination of heist and trials, and a toe-curling forbidden romance. Between the romantic intrigue and the unravelling mysteries, it kept me guessing until the very last page!
I love love loved the combo of heist & trials because it meant that tensions were *always* high. It also meant this book was extremely hard to put down.
Okay okay, here's the official blurb:
Songbird of the Sorrows is an addictive new romantic fantasy that combines beautiful world building, a thrilling combination of heist and trials, and a toe-curling forbidden romance. Between the romantic intrigue and the unravelling mysteries, it kept me guessing until the very last page!
November 21, 2025
thank you to netgalley and the Dial Press for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
first off — i need book two NOW. it's a shame i have to wait and i might cry.
second — i'm telling all my beloved fantasy readers, this book is about to be BIG. yall are not ready for it in anyway.
the world building is amazing. the plot is amazing. i have no problems with any of it besides that it just needs to be touched up on some grammar and during a scene, they said her true name when no one was suppose to know it.
i also believe in trying not to spoil anything in my reviews and i won't.
5 stars, beautiful. i cannot wait to hear when the next book is coming and can't wait to read more from this author.
first off — i need book two NOW. it's a shame i have to wait and i might cry.
second — i'm telling all my beloved fantasy readers, this book is about to be BIG. yall are not ready for it in anyway.
the world building is amazing. the plot is amazing. i have no problems with any of it besides that it just needs to be touched up on some grammar and during a scene, they said her true name when no one was suppose to know it.
i also believe in trying not to spoil anything in my reviews and i won't.
5 stars, beautiful. i cannot wait to hear when the next book is coming and can't wait to read more from this author.
November 3, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley, Random House, and Braidee Otto for the eARC.
Genre: Fantasy Romance (Romance Subplot)
⭐️ 4/5
🌶 1.5/5
🧠 5/10
Cliffhanger: 7/10
Noteworthy: Newly trad published! Book 1 of an incomplete series. Single first-person POV. Check content warnings. Publication date is 2/3/2026.
I love the premise of this book. An ostracized princess is given to an organization so she can be taught and used as a spy for her kingdom. It's a fun concept. The bird theme gave it an all most icky vibe to me. The whole thing had an air of discomfort to it. This book feels like it's mostly setting up the plot, the world, and character building. There are spots of action that will have you on the edge of your seat. Especially the last chapter!
I do like the FMC Aella, but feel like she is no where near who she will be at the end of the series. Her character arc is somewhat mapped out and I'm excited to see where she takes us. This is a rare instance where I struggled to fully invest in the MMC Raven. I understand the relationship has huge road blocks and he was bound to his duty, but I could not invest. He never gave me enough to feel like I could count of him to have our girl's back. I will try to keep an open mind since this book is single POV, but I'm holding out for a better option at this point. I need a ride or die MMC because Aella deserves no less! The side characters are really great and I hope we get more time with her brother later in the series.
The pacing in this book is a little slow at times but that tends to happen in a book 1 with heavy setup. I can tell this is going to be an amazing series and I for one can't wait to get my hands on book 2!
Genre: Fantasy Romance (Romance Subplot)
⭐️ 4/5
🌶 1.5/5
🧠 5/10
Cliffhanger: 7/10
Noteworthy: Newly trad published! Book 1 of an incomplete series. Single first-person POV. Check content warnings. Publication date is 2/3/2026.
I love the premise of this book. An ostracized princess is given to an organization so she can be taught and used as a spy for her kingdom. It's a fun concept. The bird theme gave it an all most icky vibe to me. The whole thing had an air of discomfort to it. This book feels like it's mostly setting up the plot, the world, and character building. There are spots of action that will have you on the edge of your seat. Especially the last chapter!
I do like the FMC Aella, but feel like she is no where near who she will be at the end of the series. Her character arc is somewhat mapped out and I'm excited to see where she takes us. This is a rare instance where I struggled to fully invest in the MMC Raven. I understand the relationship has huge road blocks and he was bound to his duty, but I could not invest. He never gave me enough to feel like I could count of him to have our girl's back. I will try to keep an open mind since this book is single POV, but I'm holding out for a better option at this point. I need a ride or die MMC because Aella deserves no less! The side characters are really great and I hope we get more time with her brother later in the series.
The pacing in this book is a little slow at times but that tends to happen in a book 1 with heavy setup. I can tell this is going to be an amazing series and I for one can't wait to get my hands on book 2!
May 11, 2024
*This book was sent to me as an ARC in return for an honest review. I probably won’t be getting anymore😅)*
I was bored out of my mind and only gave two stars because the cover is pretty and I can admit that the author is a great writer, just not for me. And the cover is pretty lol.
I wanted to love this book so badly. It sounded like it was right up my alley and I tried so hard, but the writing was too descriptive for me. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why other readers would love this, but it was too much to take in and took away from the story (for me). It was also incredibly slow paced in my opinion. Very long lulls of nothing happening and long descriptions of the towns and the buildings and the colors of the fabrics of the dresses. There’s a reason I hate Tolkien.
I did read 68%, skipped that last 18ish percent and read the last chapter. Probably pointless cause I blocked out the rest of the book and remembered nothing.
That’s a week I’ll never get back🙂
I was bored out of my mind and only gave two stars because the cover is pretty and I can admit that the author is a great writer, just not for me. And the cover is pretty lol.
I wanted to love this book so badly. It sounded like it was right up my alley and I tried so hard, but the writing was too descriptive for me. Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why other readers would love this, but it was too much to take in and took away from the story (for me). It was also incredibly slow paced in my opinion. Very long lulls of nothing happening and long descriptions of the towns and the buildings and the colors of the fabrics of the dresses. There’s a reason I hate Tolkien.
I did read 68%, skipped that last 18ish percent and read the last chapter. Probably pointless cause I blocked out the rest of the book and remembered nothing.
That’s a week I’ll never get back🙂
May 11, 2024
Songbird of the sorrows: 3/5 ⭐️
"Instead of adventure and dreams, I have poison in my blood and nightmares in my soul."
*Arc review*
First can I just give a huge shout-out to the fact that she included not only a beautifully designed map, but also a glossary and pronunciation guide for the names?
I'll start off by saying I think this was a fantastic debut novel, and I'm very excited to see what braidee has in store for us next, I think she has a very bright future ahead for her and her books!
However, you know me, I'm honest, so I will go over what I liked and what I perhaps didn't like as much. I LOVED the setting, the world is inspired off of Greek mythology, and if I love anything, it's Greek mythology. I think how she went about the world building and creating the setting was wonderful. It never felt overwhelming or like she was info dumping, but the world also felt real, rich and very unique! It truly felt like its own.
Id say the last like 30% was my favorite, I really liked the bit of a plottwist and cliffhanger at the end however the ending still wasn’t a good enough for me to want to pick up the next one.
Now onto the things I didn’t like:
The trials were pretty disappointing, they were over so fast, and I felt no amount of urgency or fear for our fmc.
My other complaints I suppose, center around the fact that I honestly think it should had been a bit longer. 😂 I feel like with even just another 50 pgs, a few things in this book could have been done a bit better. The trials could have been longer, And I think it could have used a bit more character development. Everything felt so quick and go go go, which is good for a fast paced book, but I feel like because of that, it hindered my connection to the characters.
I found myself not particularly caring any of the characters, or for aella or raven's relationship, for two reasons. One: I just personally didn't get enough buildup, and I didn't really feel any tension or chemistry between them, even though their love was forbidden. And two: raven just didn't give me the best vibes. Something felt off about him. I found myself just waiting for him to betray aella, honestly he almost gave me tamlin vibes. 😂 BUT that could very well have been the authors goal and plan. Perhaps she was laying seeds and we'll see them bloom in the second book, with a big betrayal or something. So for all I know, this could have been her intention.
I honestly found myself liking and connecting to Xan the most, who you only meet near the end. But IMMEDIATELY I felt tension and chemistry between him and aella, so I'm really hoping that maybe she pulls an SJM, and the first love interest isn't the last? 😂
All in all though, I did think it was an ok book, with lots of things going for it. There were some quotes I really liked, her writing style was fine, and I decently enjoyed my time reading it. But I doubt I’ll get the sequel.
"Instead of adventure and dreams, I have poison in my blood and nightmares in my soul."
*Arc review*
First can I just give a huge shout-out to the fact that she included not only a beautifully designed map, but also a glossary and pronunciation guide for the names?
I'll start off by saying I think this was a fantastic debut novel, and I'm very excited to see what braidee has in store for us next, I think she has a very bright future ahead for her and her books!
However, you know me, I'm honest, so I will go over what I liked and what I perhaps didn't like as much. I LOVED the setting, the world is inspired off of Greek mythology, and if I love anything, it's Greek mythology. I think how she went about the world building and creating the setting was wonderful. It never felt overwhelming or like she was info dumping, but the world also felt real, rich and very unique! It truly felt like its own.
Id say the last like 30% was my favorite, I really liked the bit of a plottwist and cliffhanger at the end however the ending still wasn’t a good enough for me to want to pick up the next one.
Now onto the things I didn’t like:
The trials were pretty disappointing, they were over so fast, and I felt no amount of urgency or fear for our fmc.
My other complaints I suppose, center around the fact that I honestly think it should had been a bit longer. 😂 I feel like with even just another 50 pgs, a few things in this book could have been done a bit better. The trials could have been longer, And I think it could have used a bit more character development. Everything felt so quick and go go go, which is good for a fast paced book, but I feel like because of that, it hindered my connection to the characters.
I found myself not particularly caring any of the characters, or for aella or raven's relationship, for two reasons. One: I just personally didn't get enough buildup, and I didn't really feel any tension or chemistry between them, even though their love was forbidden. And two: raven just didn't give me the best vibes. Something felt off about him. I found myself just waiting for him to betray aella, honestly he almost gave me tamlin vibes. 😂 BUT that could very well have been the authors goal and plan. Perhaps she was laying seeds and we'll see them bloom in the second book, with a big betrayal or something. So for all I know, this could have been her intention.
I honestly found myself liking and connecting to Xan the most, who you only meet near the end. But IMMEDIATELY I felt tension and chemistry between him and aella, so I'm really hoping that maybe she pulls an SJM, and the first love interest isn't the last? 😂
All in all though, I did think it was an ok book, with lots of things going for it. There were some quotes I really liked, her writing style was fine, and I decently enjoyed my time reading it. But I doubt I’ll get the sequel.
June 12, 2024
Thank you braidee Otto for the gifted arc.
⭐️⭐️
I was so so excited for this read when I saw the blurb and tropes, but I feel somewhat disappointed after finishing it. I want to start off by saying these are just my honest opinions and I mean no hate to the author or anyone who enjoyed this book. I try to keep my reviews from being negative overall, but I also want to be honest.
When I started this book, I was immediately impressed with the wonderful world building, unique magic system, and incredible prose. I feel that this author has incredible potential and I would be interested in reading her future works.
While I enjoy good writing, a good plot tends to be more important to me. This book was definitely lacking in this aspect. Once I got a few chapters in, my interest wasn’t being held anymore. I truly don’t understand what this book was building towards. She is supposed to be a spy, but does very little spying. The trials didn’t really make sense for the story. Conflicts were resolved far too quickly for me, so most of the scenes felt like filler. The pacing was really choppy and there were so many jumps in the timeline. I felt like I couldn’t immerse in the story bc I was trying to figure out where we were now. It honestly feels like this could’ve been shortened into the first few chapters of book 2, rather than being its own book.
This is also marketed as a romantasy, but the romance is a very small subplot with very little development. We don’t see much of the love interest outside of spicy scenes. I also just really disliked the love interest. He was very rude and had zero personality.
I think this series has potential! I’m not sure yet if I will continue, but with growth I think this could be a great series!
⭐️⭐️
I was so so excited for this read when I saw the blurb and tropes, but I feel somewhat disappointed after finishing it. I want to start off by saying these are just my honest opinions and I mean no hate to the author or anyone who enjoyed this book. I try to keep my reviews from being negative overall, but I also want to be honest.
When I started this book, I was immediately impressed with the wonderful world building, unique magic system, and incredible prose. I feel that this author has incredible potential and I would be interested in reading her future works.
While I enjoy good writing, a good plot tends to be more important to me. This book was definitely lacking in this aspect. Once I got a few chapters in, my interest wasn’t being held anymore. I truly don’t understand what this book was building towards. She is supposed to be a spy, but does very little spying. The trials didn’t really make sense for the story. Conflicts were resolved far too quickly for me, so most of the scenes felt like filler. The pacing was really choppy and there were so many jumps in the timeline. I felt like I couldn’t immerse in the story bc I was trying to figure out where we were now. It honestly feels like this could’ve been shortened into the first few chapters of book 2, rather than being its own book.
This is also marketed as a romantasy, but the romance is a very small subplot with very little development. We don’t see much of the love interest outside of spicy scenes. I also just really disliked the love interest. He was very rude and had zero personality.
I think this series has potential! I’m not sure yet if I will continue, but with growth I think this could be a great series!
April 23, 2024
It’s been a few years since my reviewing days. Even a few lines is something I can barely manage anymore. But this book is utterly amazing.
Braidee has an incredible poetry to her writing, the words flow and string together so beautifully. It’s whimsical.
I found myself turning each page in anticipation needing to know instantly what was happening.
I definitely was left surprised along the way, plot twist I did not see coming at all and an absolutely epic cliffhanger.
I need book 2 and I need it now Braidee.
Braidee has an incredible poetry to her writing, the words flow and string together so beautifully. It’s whimsical.
I found myself turning each page in anticipation needing to know instantly what was happening.
I definitely was left surprised along the way, plot twist I did not see coming at all and an absolutely epic cliffhanger.
I need book 2 and I need it now Braidee.
February 14, 2026
This book gave me strong Throne of Glass vibes in the best way. Emotional, a little dark, and very character-driven. I was pulled in pretty quickly and stayed invested mostly because the story leans hard into feelings and personal stakes rather than giant spectacle. It’s not heavy on worldbuilding, but there’s just enough to understand what’s happening without feeling lost, which I actually appreciated.
I do wish we had gotten more background on Raven and Aella. There’s clearly history there, and you can feel it in their interactions, but I kept wanting the story to slow down and let us sit in that past a little more. It felt like an important emotional layer that was hinted at but never fully explored. The tension still worked — I just wanted more depth.
I was also slightly disappointed there weren’t more assassin themes. The setup made me expect something sharper and more dangerous, but in reality she felt more like a glorified undercover princess who occasionally lockpicked doors than a true assassin operating in the shadows. It’s not that the story was bad — it just wasn’t the direction I expected from the premise.
Definitely check trigger warnings before going in. Nothing was super graphic, but a few moments caught me off guard closer to the end of the book and might be heavier than some readers expect. It’s not a light fantasy, even though the writing style is approachable.
The pacing mostly worked for me, and I liked how focused the book was on the characters rather than drowning in lore. It’s one of those stories where the emotional journey matters more than the mechanics of the world. Not perfect, but engaging, and I finished feeling satisfied.
If you like emotional, slightly dark fantasy with Throne of Glass energy and character-driven tension, this is worth picking up. It’s not trying to be huge and epic. It’s trying to make you feel something while reading this. And it does.
Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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I do wish we had gotten more background on Raven and Aella. There’s clearly history there, and you can feel it in their interactions, but I kept wanting the story to slow down and let us sit in that past a little more. It felt like an important emotional layer that was hinted at but never fully explored. The tension still worked — I just wanted more depth.
I was also slightly disappointed there weren’t more assassin themes. The setup made me expect something sharper and more dangerous, but in reality she felt more like a glorified undercover princess who occasionally lockpicked doors than a true assassin operating in the shadows. It’s not that the story was bad — it just wasn’t the direction I expected from the premise.
Definitely check trigger warnings before going in. Nothing was super graphic, but a few moments caught me off guard closer to the end of the book and might be heavier than some readers expect. It’s not a light fantasy, even though the writing style is approachable.
The pacing mostly worked for me, and I liked how focused the book was on the characters rather than drowning in lore. It’s one of those stories where the emotional journey matters more than the mechanics of the world. Not perfect, but engaging, and I finished feeling satisfied.
If you like emotional, slightly dark fantasy with Throne of Glass energy and character-driven tension, this is worth picking up. It’s not trying to be huge and epic. It’s trying to make you feel something while reading this. And it does.
Advance Review Copy generously provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Connect With Me:
BLOG ⟫ INSTAGRAM ⟫ NEWSLETTER ⟫
February 15, 2026
Thanks PRH audio for the gifted audiobook 🫶
4.5⭐️
💭 wow, I really enjoyed this one! Another fantastic debut novel. I really like our feisty FMC. Now, I’m a little skeptical about the MMC, but in a good way (I can’t say more without spoilers)! I’m a sucker for trials and a good heist and this book has both! I also loved the female friendships that were showcased. I feel like we just got a small glimpse at the magic system in this book and I cannot wait to learn more about it. I’m also so intrigued by the court politics. I have so many questions and I cannot wait for book 2!
🎧 I enjoyed the audio! This is single narration done by Imani Jade Powers. There was something really soothing and crisp about her voices, in particular for the FMC, that I really enjoyed. I thought she had a great range of voices and accents that really helped bring the story to life.
4.5⭐️
💭 wow, I really enjoyed this one! Another fantastic debut novel. I really like our feisty FMC. Now, I’m a little skeptical about the MMC, but in a good way (I can’t say more without spoilers)! I’m a sucker for trials and a good heist and this book has both! I also loved the female friendships that were showcased. I feel like we just got a small glimpse at the magic system in this book and I cannot wait to learn more about it. I’m also so intrigued by the court politics. I have so many questions and I cannot wait for book 2!
🎧 I enjoyed the audio! This is single narration done by Imani Jade Powers. There was something really soothing and crisp about her voices, in particular for the FMC, that I really enjoyed. I thought she had a great range of voices and accents that really helped bring the story to life.
May 6, 2024
⁸Wow! What an absolute stunning and breathtaking debut novel from Braidee Otto! I am utterly obsessed!
Braidees writing is so whimsical and magical, I was completely sucked in from the beginning. Written exceptionally well and super easy to read.
Songbird Of The Sorrows is entirely a breath of fresh air high fantasy, that is extremely fast paced but despite this, nothing has been sacrificed in doing so! I really would not turn the pages fast enough and the amount of theories I have is insane! I cannot wait for the next installment to get some answers!! Braidee has created a whole brand new world that was easy to understand despite the massive glossary at the beginning of the book! It was amazing reading something entirely new and different in a fantasy book from the usual.
Aella is an absolute amazing FMC and I was rooting for her the whole time. I'd seriously love to read a prequel about her growing up and time studying at the aviary and her beginning blossoming relationship before it was put to an end with raven and friendship with Nyssa.
CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 2!!! Cannot wait for everyone to be able to read this next month upon release. You'll want to do it ASAP!
ARC REVIEW
Braidees writing is so whimsical and magical, I was completely sucked in from the beginning. Written exceptionally well and super easy to read.
Songbird Of The Sorrows is entirely a breath of fresh air high fantasy, that is extremely fast paced but despite this, nothing has been sacrificed in doing so! I really would not turn the pages fast enough and the amount of theories I have is insane! I cannot wait for the next installment to get some answers!! Braidee has created a whole brand new world that was easy to understand despite the massive glossary at the beginning of the book! It was amazing reading something entirely new and different in a fantasy book from the usual.
Aella is an absolute amazing FMC and I was rooting for her the whole time. I'd seriously love to read a prequel about her growing up and time studying at the aviary and her beginning blossoming relationship before it was put to an end with raven and friendship with Nyssa.
CANT WAIT FOR BOOK 2!!! Cannot wait for everyone to be able to read this next month upon release. You'll want to do it ASAP!
ARC REVIEW
February 6, 2026
3.75⭐️
An epic fantasy that had me so excited to read based on the description, but just fell a little short. I do think the story will pick up in book 2, and the cliffhanger has me intrigued enough to want to continue the series. I will say we did have quite a bit of world building, which I enjoy, but at the same time it still feels like some was missing. If you like being dropped into the middle of a story you’ll definitely enjoy that aspect, also if you’re a fan of the Selection series or a Game of Veils by Eva Chase.
Aella aka Starling is a princess who was sent to the Aviary after her father disowned her for being magic-less and her mother dying during childbirth. The Aviary is the kingdoms spies, there she is taught particular skills to gather information and protect the kingdom all while hiding her true identity. She is sent on a mission after graduating from training to basically “pretend” to be her true self and win the princes hand in a neighboring nation in order to gather information on a weapon that could destroy their kingdom. In order to do this she must compete in a series of deadly trials.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the concept, I found myself growing bored through the first 60%, and the trials fell a little flat because they were rushed. The love interest Raven is the classic love interest that we love, and while it was interesting with the forbidden romance trope, I didn’t feel any tension or chemistry between the two. We also immediately know about Raven in the beginning of the book so there was no true build up. I’m hoping we get a switch up in the love interest for book 2 honestly.
Overall, I think this was a great start to the series, it just fell a tad flat for me. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dial Press for the opportunity to read this pre-release in exchange for my honest review
An epic fantasy that had me so excited to read based on the description, but just fell a little short. I do think the story will pick up in book 2, and the cliffhanger has me intrigued enough to want to continue the series. I will say we did have quite a bit of world building, which I enjoy, but at the same time it still feels like some was missing. If you like being dropped into the middle of a story you’ll definitely enjoy that aspect, also if you’re a fan of the Selection series or a Game of Veils by Eva Chase.
Aella aka Starling is a princess who was sent to the Aviary after her father disowned her for being magic-less and her mother dying during childbirth. The Aviary is the kingdoms spies, there she is taught particular skills to gather information and protect the kingdom all while hiding her true identity. She is sent on a mission after graduating from training to basically “pretend” to be her true self and win the princes hand in a neighboring nation in order to gather information on a weapon that could destroy their kingdom. In order to do this she must compete in a series of deadly trials.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the concept, I found myself growing bored through the first 60%, and the trials fell a little flat because they were rushed. The love interest Raven is the classic love interest that we love, and while it was interesting with the forbidden romance trope, I didn’t feel any tension or chemistry between the two. We also immediately know about Raven in the beginning of the book so there was no true build up. I’m hoping we get a switch up in the love interest for book 2 honestly.
Overall, I think this was a great start to the series, it just fell a tad flat for me. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Dial Press for the opportunity to read this pre-release in exchange for my honest review
March 3, 2026
2.5
review coming soon...
review coming soon...
January 12, 2026
3.5/5
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-arc!
This was a decent fantasy debut! I feel like this was definitely acting as more of a prologue to the true story Braidee wants to tell. Because of this, I do think that the story itself is sort of average for a romantic fantasy. The world itself is very fascinating along with the magic system, but we don’t really get to explore the intricacies of either of these elements a lot. I am very excited for the sequel based off of the ending though!
Aella is a nice main character. She doesn’t really stand out among many other main characters of the genre but I definitely think there is a lot of room of growth for her. My biggest criticism is that a lot of her inner monologues come off as very unnatural. They have a melodramatic quality at times that I just don’t think real people use when thinking to themselves lol. We also don’t really see her do anything new in this book. All of her training happens in the past so she already is great at all things to do with being a spy, being a princess, etc. I hope that the end of the book means she has some things to learn and we can see what she’s like when she’s really trying to learn something.
Raven is just there. LOL. I think this is intentional but I can’t say he strikes me as a very interesting character in any capacity. I do think that when a book is trying to do a love interest switch (as I suspect this one is) there has to be some level of investment into the first relationship before it’s revealed to not work out for the characters, and here I felt Raven was more of a plot device of a stepping stone for Aella instead of a character in his own right.
The romance in this novel is therefore very surface level, which is probably the intention but it doesn’t make it very enjoyable to read their sex scenes. I do think the romance in book 2 has a lot of potential though.
The plot is kind of typical. The trials are good but don’t reinvent the wheel. I felt for a book so focused on court politics, we know nothing about the politics of any court. Not of the Sorrows or any other kingdom. I don’t know who else is in Keres’ court. I think you need to flesh out other players in politicking plots because power struggles just don’t happen in vacuums of 1 person being the mastermind and having zero input from others. Everyone was just unrealistically self sufficient in this book, which is sort of baffling. Like Keres is mistreated as a child and his parents didn’t think this would result in him gunning for the throne prematurely?? I hope book 2 really expands on that whole situation PLUS whatever is up with Aella’s dad.
Aella’s friendships are nice in this book but I feel we’re told she’s friends with people more than seeing the friendship on the page. Her most important relationship is with her best friend but I just didn’t fully feel the love they had for each other.
Despite the many issues I do have with this book, it’s solid. It doesn’t do anything new, but it doesn’t do anything terrible either. Reading this will give you an enjoyable experience. The end promises a much more explosive sequel, which I will for sure be picking up this fall!!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-arc!
This was a decent fantasy debut! I feel like this was definitely acting as more of a prologue to the true story Braidee wants to tell. Because of this, I do think that the story itself is sort of average for a romantic fantasy. The world itself is very fascinating along with the magic system, but we don’t really get to explore the intricacies of either of these elements a lot. I am very excited for the sequel based off of the ending though!
Aella is a nice main character. She doesn’t really stand out among many other main characters of the genre but I definitely think there is a lot of room of growth for her. My biggest criticism is that a lot of her inner monologues come off as very unnatural. They have a melodramatic quality at times that I just don’t think real people use when thinking to themselves lol. We also don’t really see her do anything new in this book. All of her training happens in the past so she already is great at all things to do with being a spy, being a princess, etc. I hope that the end of the book means she has some things to learn and we can see what she’s like when she’s really trying to learn something.
Raven is just there. LOL. I think this is intentional but I can’t say he strikes me as a very interesting character in any capacity. I do think that when a book is trying to do a love interest switch (as I suspect this one is) there has to be some level of investment into the first relationship before it’s revealed to not work out for the characters, and here I felt Raven was more of a plot device of a stepping stone for Aella instead of a character in his own right.
The romance in this novel is therefore very surface level, which is probably the intention but it doesn’t make it very enjoyable to read their sex scenes. I do think the romance in book 2 has a lot of potential though.
The plot is kind of typical. The trials are good but don’t reinvent the wheel. I felt for a book so focused on court politics, we know nothing about the politics of any court. Not of the Sorrows or any other kingdom. I don’t know who else is in Keres’ court. I think you need to flesh out other players in politicking plots because power struggles just don’t happen in vacuums of 1 person being the mastermind and having zero input from others. Everyone was just unrealistically self sufficient in this book, which is sort of baffling. Like Keres is mistreated as a child and his parents didn’t think this would result in him gunning for the throne prematurely?? I hope book 2 really expands on that whole situation PLUS whatever is up with Aella’s dad.
Aella’s friendships are nice in this book but I feel we’re told she’s friends with people more than seeing the friendship on the page. Her most important relationship is with her best friend but I just didn’t fully feel the love they had for each other.
Despite the many issues I do have with this book, it’s solid. It doesn’t do anything new, but it doesn’t do anything terrible either. Reading this will give you an enjoyable experience. The end promises a much more explosive sequel, which I will for sure be picking up this fall!!
June 24, 2024
womp womp womp
fantasy romance is my most beloved genre but the source of such disappointment.
the world building was actually very interesting, but the complete lack of chemistry between the fmc and love interest and the fact that we are plunged right in the middle of the love story contributes to a pretty disappointing romance plot.
also heard that the trials have no urgency, are very low stakes, and quite easy to breeze through.
in a world of sjm, carissa broadbent, and danielle l. jensen, I expect more.
✧ DNF 40%
fantasy romance is my most beloved genre but the source of such disappointment.
the world building was actually very interesting, but the complete lack of chemistry between the fmc and love interest and the fact that we are plunged right in the middle of the love story contributes to a pretty disappointing romance plot.
also heard that the trials have no urgency, are very low stakes, and quite easy to breeze through.
in a world of sjm, carissa broadbent, and danielle l. jensen, I expect more.
✧ DNF 40%
September 22, 2026
PURPLE PROSE ALERTDear Lord, it's finally over.
You know, purple prose ain't too bad. You just gotta go into it with the right mindset. I did see some similarities to When the Moon Hatched, but seeing the first edition was published the same year as WtMH, I doubt this was a copycat.
Let's do some ratings:
Audio ⭐⭐⭐
Plot/story ⭐⭐
Characters ⭐⭐
I really didn't care much for the characters. Even though each character was different they really fell flat for me. The writing tried to give the impression of being fancy with flowery words and overly detailed descriptions
Excitement perfumes the air
The sun warms my face as it burns it's descent over the horizon
But when it came to the plot Braidee Otto took a hard punch. Lazy plot writing with nothing solid to stand on. I read some parts of a first edition and it was horribly bad. Shit scattered in the wind. I think she finally got an editor to help her tie some loose ends together. That labyrinth scene was pathetic in the first edition, and still a big nothing in this second edition. You could cut out all the competition scenes and still not lose much of the story.
I'm writing this review and rating when I have 82 more pages to read. I know how this will end. Book 2 dribbles out in a month. I'm passing on it.
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